A Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) Framework for Adjusting System Availability Levels Available to Purchase

Presents a new approach to adjust system availability levels which is based on the integration of total quality management principles with mathematical models for system availability. It is shown here that system availability levels can be improved and operating costs reduced if teams are used to evaluate and modify the operations of a system. The technique used here encourages continuous improvement and evaluation of systems, and demonstrates how coherent and consistent team judgements may be reached. A real case study that involves six engineers from a worldwide manufacturer of business computer systems is used to illustrate the application of the approach.